Glasgow Guzzler Autumn 2015

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Glasgow & West of Scotland branch of camra Vol. 5, No. 5 Free Autumn 2015

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The New Glasgow

T IS H B RAN

Derek Moore, founder of Barrhead’s Kelburn Brewing Co celebrates with a pint of Jaguar at the Great British Beer Festival in London, after winning Champion Golden Ale of Britain and coming second overall in the Champion Beer of Britain competition. Photo: Danny Matheson

KeLBurn wins top award

see page 8

Jaguar is Britain’s champion golden ale

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THE STATE 148 HOLLAND ST. GLASGOW @state_the 0141 332 2159

The New Glasgow

The Glasgow Guzzler is published by the Glasgow and West of Scotland branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra). © Camra 2015. Items may be quoted or reprinted as long as credit is given. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent the views of Camra or of the branch.

Branch Chair Howard Young Branch Secretary Joe Pakenham Social Secretary Katie Marriott, membership@glasgowcamra. org.uk Editor Robbie Pickering, theeditor@glasgowcamra. org.uk Advertising Kenny Gillies, admanager@glasgowcamra. org.uk Publications Committee Robin Jones (rj), Jonathan Kemp (jk), Stewart McAbney (sm), Brian McAteer (bm), Richard O’Leary (rol), Tom Ord (to), Robbie Pickering (rp) Branch Contact Jonathan Kemp, branch. contact@glasgowcamra.org.uk Young Members’ Contact Joe Pakenham, joe.pakenham@glasgowcamra. org.uk. www.glasgowcamra.org.uk Advertising rates Full page £160 (back cover £200); half £80; quarter £40.

Circulation: 3000. See www. glasgowcamra.org.uk/guzzler/ adprices.html for technical details.

editorial

Editorial

I

t seems to be awards season in the real ale world just now! As you will see elsewhere in the Guzzler, we have presented the Strathalbyn Cup for the branch’s Beer of the Year to Oakham Ales, Peterborough, for Green Devil IPA. In addition, Scottish brewers were successful in the competition for Champion Beer of Britain. Fyne Ales were awarded silver in the Bottled Beer category for Superior IPA, Highland managed the same in the Best Bitter category for Scapa Special. Williams Brothers went one better, achieving gold in the Mild category with Black. However, the undoubted star was Kelburn, whose Jaguar won the Golden Ale category, and went on to win the overall silver. Our congratulations to all.

It was pleasing to see how many of the beers that won awards have previously been available at the G-RAF. I hope those who attended this year enjoyed the event, and will be looking forward to returning to the Briggait for next year’s festival.

Of course, none of these awards would have been possible without CAMRA members’ active assistance. Every beer judged has been nominated by a member; the G-RAF is organised and run by volunteers. If you are a CAMRA member, please think about how you can assist; if not, please think about joining!

Jonathan Kemp G-raf organiser

Branch diary Sat 26 September, 2pm Scottish & Northern Ireland Branches social Meet at Stockbridge Tap, Edinburgh

Thu 1 – Sat 3 October Ayrshire Real Ale Festival

Troon Concert Hall, Troon, KA10 6Ef. Entry £5.00 (£3.00 for CAMRA members with card).

Food available during all sessions.

Wed 14 October, 7.30pm Branch meeting

The Merchant, 134–136 West George St

Camra is part of the European Beer Consumers’ Union.

Mon 26 October, 7pm Brewery visit

Drygate Brewery, John Knox St. Date and costs subject to confirmation.

Please contact Joe Pakenham if you wish to attend.

Fri 30 – Sat 31 October Alloa Real Ale Festival Alloa Town Hall.

More details to follow, volunteers required.

Thu 19 November, 7.30pm Branch meeting

The Bon Accord, 153 North St

Wed 9 December, 7.30pm Branch meeting

Blackfriars, 36 Bell St

Wed 16 December Christmas curry

Akbar’s, 573-581 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow.

Details to follow

Wed 6 January, 7.30pm Good Beer Guide selection meeting

Laurieston Bar, Bridge St. Members only.

Wed 13 January, 7.30pm Branch meeting The Vale, 5–7 Dundas St

New CAMRA members, previously inactive members, non-members, former members etc. welcome at meetings (unless stated otherwise). We are nice!

Visit www.glasgowcamra.org.uk for the latest news Or follow @GlasgowCAMRA on Twitter facebook.com/GlasgowCAMRA

Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

3

camra news

Letter from the Regional Director

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t is hard to believe it is almost a year since we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Scottish Branches at a well attended reunion in Callum’s, Johnstone.

We also took the opportunity to present the Dan Kane Quaich to Derek Moore of Kelburn Brewery for Dark Moor, the 2014 Champion Beer of Scotland (CBOS).

Following some in-depth research since our 40th Anniversary booklet “Cheers” was produced, the number of breweries in Scot-

land has now gone up from 82 to over 110!

Progress is also being made in Northern Ireland on this front.

Towards the end of last year, campaign gains were made with the introduction of a pub adjudicator for England and Wales and a market free option for tied pub tenants. A meeting was held early in the New Year to persuade the Scottish Government to adopt similar legislation but it took until May to secure a commitment from Fergus Ewing to agree to a review of the

tied pub situation in Scotland.

Following the General Election, I attended a CAMRA reception in London for all the new MPs at Westminster. A handful of Scottish MPs attended so I was able to make them aware of our campaign aims.

In the spring, our new Chief Executive, Tim Page, visited both Scotland and Northern Ireland and we had interesting meetings in Kilmarnock and Belfast to discuss local problems.

I have managed

to visit all our SNIB beer festivals at some point to support the great effort made by volunteers.

This brings me full circle as I spent a week at the Great British Beer Festival in London. I had arranged a few meetings there, in between pulling pints, to press the issues which concern SNIB members. Let us all raise a full pint of real ale in September to the next 40 years. Cheers!

Ray Turpie

Scotland and Northern Ireland Director (SNID)

WINE & BEER NOW OPEN! The Good Spirits Company bringing Glasgow’s city centre a new independent wine and beer shop. With a specially selected range of wines old and new, and a now wider variety of craft beers.

www.thegoodspiritsco.com 4

0141 332 4481 Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

news

New exhibition reminds of brewing history

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non-profit set up to create a permanent collection of Scottish breweriana is on course to open its first exhibition.

Brewing Heritage Scotland was created to find a home for the three-dimensional artifacts such as beer cans, keg fonts, promotional items, ashtrays etc. which have been donated to the Scottish Brewing Archive but cannot be usefully held at the archive’s base at Glasgow University.

BHS has now succeeded in winning funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in order to transform its collection into an exhibition telling the story of Scottish brewing.

The first exhibition, “The Untold History of Scottish Brewing” is to be at the Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, from 1 to 31 October.

A second exhibition is planned for next year. [rp]

Fire damage at Coylet Inn Photo: Tom Ord

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n award-winning Argyll pub has been forced to close temporarily following a devastating fire.

The Coylet Inn at Loch Eck, a long-time favourite which was CAMRA’s Argyll Pub of the Year in 2008, caught fire on 7 July.

Several members of staff were hospitalised.

The fire was confined to the kitchen and loft but the entire pub has suffered smoke damage and it is not yet known when it will open again. [rp]

A warm welcome at

THE POT STILL Hope St, Glasgow

Four real ales · Bottled beers · More than 700 whiskies Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

5

news

All photos: Euan Fraser

Thousands enjoy second G-RAF I

n figures, the 2015 Glasgow Real Ale Festival at the end of June was impressive. Over 80 volunteers came together to serve 2,750 people approximately 14,000 pints of Real Ale, cider and foreign beers over a 3 day period.

The bare figures do not, of course, tell the whole story, although they do tell you that the G-RAF is growing, is successful, and will be back next year!

I cannot really objectively review the G-RAF, as I am somewhat biased! What I can do, once again, is thank everybody involved – from the committee who all gave up a great deal of time over the year, to every volunteer, to all of the sponsors, and of course to all the visitors. It doesn’t matter how well 6

organised, how well staffed a festival is – without customers, there is no festival. All we can do is try to provide an event people want to come to again and again.

It certainly appeared to me that our customers enjoyed themselves!

The feedback I have seen has been overwhelmingly positive, and this accords with the comments made during the festival itself.

No review of the G-RAF is complete without mentioning the undoubted star of the festival – the 1872 Hall in the Briggait. I think most people agree that the superb, light and airy space add a great deal to the festival.

I look forward to welcoming you all to the G-RAF 2016.

Jonathan Kemp G-raf organiser

Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

20 years ago…

news

The Autumn 1995 Guzzler anticipated our beer festival to be held at the Arches. We are still around, but since this year the Arches no longer is.

Scottish & Newcastle had launched a new cask beer, Raeburn’s Edinburgh Ale (no, we don’t remember it either). But S&N was not popular. “The merger madness must stop now!” the editor wrote in response to the news that the firm was to be allowed to take over rival brewer Courage. And in the previous edition, the branch chairman had somewhat intemperately offered to help demolish S&N’s Fountainbridge brewery. This provoked an angry letter to the Guzzler from the Edinburgh branch of CAMRA, calling these remarks ‘totally out of order’ … and demanding that they should get to drive the bulldozer. [rp]

Local breweries in brief At the end of August Fyne Ales launched a 7.4% saison-style beer in bottle and keg, “The Farmer”. It is part of a series of four beers which will mark the changing seasons. Another new beer is in the works, Ragnarok, which is described as a “Turbo Jarl” at 7.4%, also using the Citra hop which gives Jarl its distinctive taste.

Drygate hosted the Craft Beer Rising festival at the beginning of September, and is playing host to the Society of Independent Brewers Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

festival in November.

Branch members are also looking forward to a brewery tour in October – see the branch diary on page 3 if you would like to come along.

Cumbernauld’s Lawman Brewing Co has acquired premises and is in the process of fitting them out. The commissioning of a new 5bbl kit is well underway, says brewer Craig Laurie.

Loch Lomond Brewery ran their beer tent at the Loch Lomond food & drink festival again this year, but met

with more success than anticipated and were completely sold out of draught beer

by Sunday afternoon!

Responding to the demand, Fiona has threatened to make a new beer called “Have you got something like a lager?”

We are sure this would also sell very well at our own beer festivals!

Glasgow-based nanobrewing operation Ride Brewing Co has parted company with Drury St Bar & Kitchen and is raising funds to purchase bigger equipment.

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brewery news

Kelburn takes silver at GBBF K

elburn Brewery from Barrhead had a spectacular success in August when their hoppy golden ale Jaguar came second overall in the Champion Beer of Britain contest, awarded

by CAMRA at the Great British Beer Festival in

London.

Cwtch, a rich, dark ale from Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel was the supreme champion.

Jaguar also won the Golden Ale category outright.

Derek Moore (pictured below), owner

of Kelburn and still an active CAMRA volunteer, said “Everyone at the brewery is delighted with these awards.

The focus at Kelburn is the quality of the beer, and to

Tidy Tardis of beer

Quite by coincidence our branch visited Kelburn earlier in the month, and Joe Pakenham reports on what they found

O

n a wet Wednesday evening on 5 August, a motley crew of Glasgow CAMRA members both new and experienced ventured into darkest Renfrewshire for a tour at Kelburn brewery.

8

After thinking we were lost, but were actually on the right path all along, Rog spotted the Kelburn delivery van and we all scurried into the super-clean brewery away from the pouring rain. Inside we were greeted with an excellent spread of home-made sandwiches, a Cart Noir cake (think a Guinness cake but made with better beer), spent grain flapjacks (nicer than it sounds – lucky, lucky cows usually get fed spent grain) and even some fruit. This was all courtesy of Sharon who does pretty much any job that needs doing around the brewery.

As well of course three boxes of real ale to try. None of us knew at the time that Jaguar was about to win silver in the Champion Beer of Britain the very next week – but it was the first to be emptied…

Derek Moore gave the assembled masses a brief history of the brewery and his work as a brewer – from brewing Houston beers to expansion at Kelburn.

We then went on a tour of the very clean and tidy brewery (we got the sense Derek is a bit of a stickler for hygiene throughout) which was bigger than I was expecting… the brewery itself is a bit like a TARDIS, especially with all the steam and big steel tanks around the place. Thanks again to Derek, Sharon and everyone else at Kelburn for an excellent evening of great beer and food too. [jp] Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

brewery news win an award like this is an amazing recognition of all the care and hard work that goes into each pint.

“We are particularly

proud, as CAMRA’s rigorous competition structure means that Jaguar was required to be consistently on good form to progress to the top stage.”

Other local breweries with successes included Fyne Ales who came second in the bottled beer category with Superior IPA, and Williams Bros who won best Mild. For a complete list of the winners check out the CAMRA website www.camra.org.uk. n Kelburn recently made a donation to charity from sales of the last bottles of its Tartan Army beer. The name is no longer being used due to new restrictions on the words Tartan Army. The Scotland team’s new sponsor is Tennent’s. Is there a connection? [rp]

Top beer cup for Oakham

Matthew Ashford, left, accepts cup and certificate from branch chair Howard Young. Photo: Jonathan Kemp

M

atthew Ashford from Oakham Ales graciously received the Strathalbyn Cup trophy for Glasgow CAMRA Beer of the Year 2014/15 which was the now famous Green Devil IPA. The State Bar were hosts for the evening and together we managed to get through a ninegallon cask of Green Devil in 91 minutes. That’s a pint every 76 seconds and may well be a Glasgow record. We’ll have to get the Guinness Book of Records in for the next visit… [shurely there is a cask-conditioned alternative book of records available? Ed] [jp]

T

he last edition of the Guzzler predicted we would have a good time at our Jaw Brewery visit on Wednesday 3 June – and it was right.

Mark Hazell, head brewer and owner gave the sold-out visit a great introduction to his relatively new brewery (they hadn’t been open a year when we visited).

The gathered crowd – including Luna the golden retriever – were treated to generous sampling of the beers, including a couple of new ones yet to be released which went down very well. Already speaking of expansion, the next time we visit Jaw it may well be in a much bigger location. Thanks to Mark and everyone at Jaw for their hospitality. [jp] Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

9

opinion

Y

ou can hardly go into a pub these days without being offered something called “craft beer”.

The papers, too, are full of gushing articles trying to make out that there was no beer in Britain worth drinking until a supposed “craft beer revolution” broke out five or six years ago.

But anyone who thinks this is a new movement – as most of the press seem to – is barking up the wrong tree.

The Americans’ “craft beer” and our “real ale” are different expressions of the same movement for better beer, and CAMRA has worked with the independent American brewers for decades.

You could argue – CAMRA has done – that cask-conditioned real ale is the original craft beer, but you’d be disappointed to find out that nobody else uses the term that way.

Some brewers have even built their own brands by counterposing cool, fashionable “craft beer” to boring old real ale.

The problem is that there is no definition of what “craft” means. You can go into a bar advertising “craft beer” and you might get a bewildering selection of weird and wonderful beers, including well-kept cask… Or, sadly more likely, there might be a fridge with a few elderly bottles of Brooklyn Lager, no cask and a lonely keg font with a trendy name.

When CAMRA started, the drinker had a choice between real ale and keg beer that was Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect CAMRA policy or the views of Glasgow CAMRA. 10

What’s the deal with “craft beer”?

New-wave keg beers served in wine glasses

a poor imitation of real ale, pasteurised, filtered and gassy. I say a choice – in reality breweries did their best to deny us the choice of drinking real ale at all.

Nowadays microbrewers have started putting much more characterful beers into kegs, and the world is a bit more complicated than it once was. Often the beer is not pasteurised or filtered. Some kegs contain an internal bladder (like a wine box) so that the dispense gas does not touch the beer. Indeed, if the beer is naturally conditioned in such a keg, CAMRA recognises it as real ale.

It is surely positive that brewers have now recognised that pasteurisation and filtration do beer no favours, and try to serve their beer as fresh as possible. Live, naturally conditioned beer is a big part of what CAMRA has always fought for.

While some of these beers are still not quite “real” in CAMRA’s eyes, they are arguably closer to real ale than they are to old-style keg ales like Tartan Special.

On the other hand, while some of the so-called “craft” is innovative, other cheeky brew-

ers are just putting the same old characterless beer in front of us, but with an edgy modern label.

It’s important that drinkers should know what they are getting when they buy a beer. We urge breweries and pubs (as always) to clearly indicate exactly how beers are dispensed and how they have been processed.

This does not mean that CAMRA promotes non-real kegs. They can stand or fall in the marketplace on their own merits. Like other keg beers, they save pubs the hassle of looking after fresh, perishable cask beers. It’s far better for CAMRA to spend its time supporting those pubs who do make the effort to keep good cask.

While some new beers are a far cry from the keg beer of old, and many people enjoy them, we will continue to campaign for real ale because we still believe that it presents British beer styles at their best.

If you agree that real ale remains something special and something worth preserving, keep insisting on cask – and join CAMRA. Robbie Pickering

Glasgow Guzzler · Spring 2015

letters

Letters to the editor Demonisation of pubs by charities

So, first there was Macmillan’s Go Sober for October. Then Cancer Research came up with Dryathlon in January. And now they see another bite into pubs with their new wizard wheeze, Second Chance September.

Any pretence at being a charitable campaign rather than a determined attack on the licensed trade must surely now be dropped?

Last year was a fantastic year for beer lovers in the branch area, with three new beer festivals in Glasgow alone. The choice and quality of beers we see now in Scotland is without equal in history. If we wish to continue to enjoy this rich bounty, we cannot ignore this creeping demonisation of the pleasures of a pint, and the pride in our pubs.

I therefore ask for CAMRA, both at branch and national level, to take these national money-raking businesses to task and fight for the positive message rather than this neo-prohibitionism disguised as fake piety and fundraising.

Frank Murphy, Glasgow

Dumfries & Galloway

One or two visitors to the GRAF asked why Dumfries and Galloway had been left out of the article in the last Guzzler on the best pubs in each of CAMRA’s Scottish areas. Apologies for the oversight.

Cavens Arms in Dumfries town centre, a regular Dumfries and Stewartry pub of the year, should have been our highlighted pub, for its consistently good beer, with four regulars and four guests.

One of the good things about Dumfries is the number of good pubs within walking distance. So Glasgow Guzzler · spring 2015

as well as the Cavens you can call into the Tam O’Shanter, Robert the Bruce, New Bazaar, Coach and Horses – as well as the Globe, the bard’s “favourite howff ”, in the course of an evening’s stroll.

The Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Branch has recently published a series of ale trails to do by public transport, including one for Wigtownshire. This gives the bus connections needed to reach pubs such as the Blue Peter Hotel, Kirkcolm, the Crown Hotel, Portpatrick and the Steam Packet Inn, Isle of Whithorn – all well worth a visit. The trails can be downloaded from the Ayrshire branch website.

Brian McAteer, Glasgow

Non-real

The article in the last Guzzler, “Big expansion at WEST with new brewery and second own bar” was brought to my attention at G-RAF. The question posed was “What has this got to do with CAMRA?”, the views being that the article simply promotes non-real products and a non-real outlet. The final paragraph of the article sums this up “As only WEST beers are served in the bar. there is no real ale.”

The same page also features a report from Tennent’s brewery. Have they started brewing real ale?

LG, Ayr

The editor replies: We have covered the threat to and closure of the Halt Bar at some length in previous issues and it would have been odd not to mention what eventually happened to it. We cover news from all local breweries, which is not the same as promoting them. This is in line with CAMRA’s policy of maintaining relations with all breweries, whether they produce real ale or not.

Local Trading Standards Offices

If you have a complaint about quality or service in a pub, always try to sort your complaint out with the pub first. If that doesn’t help, you can contact your local Trading Standards offices. It is CAMRA policy to print these contact details in branch magazines.

East Dunbartonshire

0141 578 8813 trading.standards @eastdunbarton.gov.uk

West Dunbartonshire

01389 738552 trading.standards @west-dunbarton.gov.uk

Glasgow

0141 287 6681 ts.enquiries@glasgow. gov.uk

North Lanarkshire 01236 638678 (Coatbridge) 01236 638905 (Cumbernauld) 01698 274220 (Motherwell)

South Lanarkshire

08457 406080 Business.Enquiries @southlanarkshire.gov.uk

Pub discounts

Members of CAMRA benefit from discounts in a number of pubs. Visit glasgowcamra.org.uk for full details. n The Guzzler welcomes letters from readers. So if you disagree with something in the magazine, or have something regarding beer or pubs you want to get off your chest, drop us a line: theeditor@ glasgowcamra.org.uk 11

travel

To Poland for T.E.A. O

n a recent trip to Poland I spent two nights in Warsaw, a night in Katowice and five nights in Kraków.

Poland was not particularly highly regarded for beer in the past with certain national brands being dominant. Local craft brews make up only a tiny fraction of all beers sold but the scene is definitely changing.

The tide began to turn in the 90s. Microbreweries slowly came out of the woodwork and have grown steadily over the last two decades.

In all of the 3 cities there were specialist beer bars serving a range of styles of beer with American style IPA, 5% or above, very much to the fore.

Ten years ago, almost all of Kraków’s pubs served one of four beers. Kraków has now embraced the new beer revolution and is particularly well represented with a number of pubs selling ten or more beers.

House of Beer boasts probably the biggest range of bottled beers in town, plus two bars with a row of ever-changing brews on tap. Viva La Pinta is 12

a craft beer pub tied to a single brewery. The brewery in question is Browar and the bar features between eight and ten of Pinta’s creations on tap, with more available in bottled form.

On our trip we visited a brewery (Browar Twigg) specialising in traditional English and Belgian ale styles.

The brewery was established in 2014 by avid homebrewer, CAMRA member and Cambridge Theoretical Physics graduate, David Twigg. Dr David, who is Polish, moved to Kraków to fulfill his lifelong ambition of opening a brewery and

producing quality ales.

The brewery plant was supplied by the Porter Brewing Company of England and has a 15 barrel (120 hectolitres) capacity.

Malt is imported from the UK and a variety of New World hops are used. Beers are available in various pubs including real ale for the T.E.A. Time pub in Kraków.

T.E.A stands for Traditional English Ales.

They serve four-to-six of

their own brews, which rotate regularly but always feature a bitter, a porter, an IPA and a wheat beer. Run by an Englishman, T.E.A Time uniquely serves its beers in pint or half pint measures (a few percent larger than the typical half-litre served in Poland). It feels like a classic British pub, with its street corner location and large windows, but the interior is more stripped back and uncluttered than the typical UK boozer.

I enjoyed many of the beers which cost a fraction of what they would here e.g.

12 to 16 zloty where the exchange rate is approximately 5.5 zloty to the pound. What you will get in Poland is a beautiful country, a very warm welcome and a growing beer scene. howard young

Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

pub crawling

Four wheels good, two wheels better

O

ver the summer (or rather the time of year when you’d normally expect the summer) I cycled from Balloch to Glencoe, calling in at a few Argyll pubs.

Before starting, a visit to the Doghouse in Balloch found a bright and cheery place with an excellent pint of West Highland Way beer from Loch Lomond brewery.

This looks like being a good addition to the local scene.

There’s a great cycle route from Balloch to Tarbet with various possible stops including the splendid-looking Inn on Loch Lomond at Inverbeg. Last time I was here they’d no real beer but this time there was a welcome drop of Loch Lomond Kessog Dark Ale. It’s a short distance from here to Arrochar where the Village Inn was basking in some rare sunshine.

Now part of the Stonegate group, the pub seemed to be thriving, despite the generally lousy summer weather.

A pint of Avalanche on the shores of Loch Long is a fine way to end a day’s cycling.

The long climb up to the Rest and be Glasgow Guzzler · autumn 2015

Thankful and quick rattle down the other side brings you to Cairndow. The Stagecoach was quiet at this mid-week lunchtime but served a good Fyne Ales Maverick. A mile or so further on the Brewery Tap was looking a bit more peaceful than when I was last here at Fynefest. The very refreshing Yakhop, at only 3.5%, was just the job for the occasion.

I don’t recommend cycling the busy road from here to Inveraray, where the George was offering Kelburn Dark Moor and Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted.

Next day I found the Taynuilt Hotel had no cask beer. The following day, another good cycle route using the old railway to Ballachulish brought me to Glencoe ready for a pint but without the energy needed to climb up the old road to the Clachaig. Fortunately, I discovered that the Glencoe Inn at the crossroads was selling two River Leven beers, Blonde and the Traditional IPA. Worth a visit.

Brian McAteer

13

pubs news The spread of real ale beyond the city centre continues with the Quo Vadis on Paisley Road West, Cardonald now offering 3 beers.

10% discount with CAMRA card.

Anniesland has a new venture, GWR 1051, selling two Jaw Brew beers. It’s now just about possible to do a pub crawl (if you enjoy walking) from Anniesland to Byres Road, taking in the Esquire House, GWR 1051, Cafe Source Too, Cottiers and Tennents.

The Village Hotel near the BBC at Pacific Quay has one hand pump, dispensing Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted.

Digital Guzzler

n The Glasgow Guzzler is produced for people to pick up and read in the pub. But if you want to read it on your interwebular device, you can also get it online at issuu.com/ glasgowguzzler, or glasgowcamra. org.uk n The copy and advertising deadline for the next issue of the Guzzler is 15th November.

14

Around the branch area n We very much appreciate updates from readers about pub openings and closures, and information about pubs that have started (or stopped) selling real ale. Send your information to theeditor@glasgowcamra.org.uk, or tweet it to @GlasgowGuzzler.

The Clutha and Victoria bars have re-opened after the first stage of reconstruction work was completed. We urge all readers to pay the pub a visit at this difficult time. It would be churlish to complain that the bar does not yet sell real ale.

Up. It’s the second pub after Crafty Pig (formerly Hubbards) to have real ale eliminated by this management team. Glasgow once had many Samuel Dow pubs, but Dow’s at Queen St station is now the last surviving pub in the city with the name.

After several visits to find turned-round pumpclips, we feared that Cairns Bar had given up on real ale.

However, along with the rest of the Spirit pub company it is now owned by Greene King and perhaps this is why a recent visit found GK IPA on sale instead of the previous Caledonian beers.

The Doublet is in the process of being sold. Longtime owner Alistair Don has retired.

A sad loss is the Scotia Bar, once a real ale stalwart.

Delivering the previous Guzzler we found the handpumps removed and replaced by “craft” keg offerings. Worse, the barmaid had apparently been told that these keg beers were real.

The Lebowski’s group has taken over Strathbungo’s Samuel Dow, now renamed Lebowskis Pop

Real ale has returned to the James Tassie, Shawlands.

In the last issue we celebrated that the Imperial had brought back real ale for the first time since McEwan’s dumped it in the 1960s.

Unfortunately it’s apparently gone again.

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 50 years for its return.

O’Neill’s in the Merchant City has withdrawn real ale.

the JDW chain is opening a new outlet in East Kilbride, and planning a hotel next to the Crystal Palace.

A Bavarian Brau haus is planned to open on Bothwell St in the city centre.

No details yet but we believe that Arran Brewery is also involved.

In Balloch, the Doghouse is now selling a Loch Lomond beer on handpump.

10% discount for CAMRA members (with card).

Carfin, a real ale desert for generations, now has a Marston’s carvery, the Raven’s Cliff. Beers from the Marston’s range as you would expect.

In Glencoe, the Crossroads has real ale.

The Port Inn on Bute is now selling beers from the local Bute Brewery Co.

The Quarter Gill in Oswald St has closed and opened again.

The Inn at Loch Lomond, Inverbeg has real ale.

The popular Wetherspoon pub Edward G Wylie is up for sale. However,

n Thanks to all who supplied real ale and pubs gen.

Glasgow Guzzler · summer 2015

Fai r on dea b tax eer l now !

A Campaign Save Britain’s Pubs!

of Two Halves

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Joint Membership £29.50 £31.50 (Partner at the same address)

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For Young Member and other concessionary rates please visit www.camra.org.uk or call 01727 867201.

Postcode Email address Tel No(s)

Partner’s Details (if Joint Membership) Title

Non DD

£26

Surname

I wish to join the Campaign for Real Ale, and agree to abide by the Memorandum and Articles of Association I enclose a cheque for Signed

Forename(s)

Date

Applications will be processed within 21 days

Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) Email address (if different from main member)

Campaigning for Pub Goers & Beer Drinkers

01/15

Enjoying Real Ale & Pubs

Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to: Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. 230 Hatfield Road, St.Albans, Herts AL1 4LW Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society Service User Number To the Manager

Bank or Building Society

Address

9 2 6 1 2 9 FOR CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE LTD OFFICIAL USE ONLY

This is not part of the instruction to your Bank or Building Society Membership Number Postcode Name

Name(s) of Account Holder

Postcode

Bank or Building Society Account Number

Please pay Campaign For Real Ale Limited Direct Debits from the account detailed on this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Campaign For Real Ale Limited and, if so will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Instructions to your Bank or Building Society

Branch Sort Code

Signature(s)

Reference

Date

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions for some types of account.

This Guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer.

The Direct Debit Guarantee This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits.

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society - If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd asks you to You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society.Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

Main Festival Sponsor

1st - 3rd October 2015

Troon Concert Hall Two bars featuring 150+ Real Ales from around the UK plus Cider & Perry

2nd BAR THEME: BEERS FROM ISLANDS AROUND THE UK Thurs 1st October 12 noon (CAMRA members’ preview) 2pm – 11pm (Public) Fri 2nd / Sat 3rd October 11am – 11pm

LIVE MUSIC

FRIDAY NIGHT Simon Atkinson & The Foundryman’s Apprentice SATURDAY AFTERNOON Irvine & District Pipe Band SATURDAY NIGHT Duffy’s Gypsy Band

ADMISSION (over 18’s only) Public: £5, CAMRA: £3 Thursday only - under 25’s: £3

www.ayrshirebeerfestival.co.uk